click click

 

Reminds me of the WRX, bet it will be a hit.
I'm still gonna be waiting for my next gen Camaro!!
RWD V8 or nothing!!!!

 

Yep, I have that magazine. Even more shocking than it's 0-60 and quarter mile run is it's top speed.......153 MPH....in a NEON!

 

ya know, I think it's cool that it's putting out those kind of numbers, but all I can say is that I cannot see myself in a NEON. I mean, its a riceburner, just American. Not my style. I don't care if it put out 400 horses. I would always think of it as a burner and I would not be happy with its' small size, small engine and ricy look. I can't understand how anyone can really love muscle cars (RWD, V-8's, raw american power) and then say that they would drive a neon. I know camaro is gone and there is hardly anything new coming our way, then all we can do is keep preserving the ones we have now.

 

i really love muscle cars and I WOULD DRIVE A NEON,of course,i'm fairly open to all sporty cars,FWD,RWD,V-8,V-6,flat four,flat six,inline six,whatever,i couldn't see confining myself to buying one type of car when there are so many great and different cars out there.i would buy this neon in a heartbeat,it's the new king of affordable performance.

 

I saw that too and I just got to thinking that maybe the production versions won't be as fast. It seems a little too good if you ask me. Maybe there was a little extra boost involved. I guess no one will know until they go to the track with one.

 

It is a testament to the great car the 4th gen was, that it took a whole decade for someone to create a better bang for the buck car.

 

Eh, I don't want to sound like a hater or anything but it is still a Neon. Believe me my parents had one and it was without a doubt the biggest hunk o' junk I've ever ridden in. Just horrible. If the Neon has made leaps and bounds in quality in the last few years, it might be something worth looking at.

 

One thing I've noticed about most everyone who owns/owned a Neon is that they either are good cars, or they fall apart & the person swears off Chrysler forever. 2 people who have had a Neon for 4 years, a friend at work & my mom. Mom had bad experiences with her 's (especially over the past year) and the fried at work hasn't. Mom drove hers in the stop & go, freeze & thaw northeast (Pennsylvania), friend at work drove nothing but California mostly freeways. Neither went out of the way to take care of their cars, Mom has 110K, friend has about 120K.

I can't say they are all junk, but I can say they seem to be unusually "fragile" in the durability area.

 

actually the newest ones are alot better than the older ones.. I sat in a rental one and was pleasantly surprised how much nicer and quieter they became..

I wish they made smaller cars like this as RWD though.. like alot of us, FWD just doesn't do it...

 

Let me get this straight. The article says that the only thing different about NA engine and this turboed engine is the revised intake.

There is no mention of forged internals, is there?

So simply slapping on a turbo, cranking it up between 11 and 14 psi to produce some massive horspower upgrade, and they think to provide warranty with this too?

 

I can see the warranty now. 2000 miles or 2 months, whichever comes first. Man, what quality.

 

The current Neon is a car that I would recommend to anyone, and yes, they've progressed lightyears in quality. I would put the Neon ahead of the Focus in terms of reliabilty, and the build quality is now equal to that of the 300M. (For $13-20,000, Neon is well built, for $30-35,000, the 300M is a joke.) Compared with the current Mustang, the Neon is far superior in interior materials and paint quality.

I'm inclined to say that the Neon SRT-4 makes the "special edition" Mach I look silly and overpriced. If you take into account that the Neon isn't far off the Mustang's 0-60 and 1/4 mile times, and BEATS it in top speed (153mph!), the $9,000 price differential is pretty hard to stomach. There again, the Mustang has "image" and "style." Personally, I'd use the extra cash to bribe my ego into submission.

That said, the Neon name should have died in 2000 when it became a decent car. It's a pity that they didn't restyle the front clip and give the SRT-4 a decent, non-Neon name. After all, Chrysler still owns the rights to retro names such as "Demon" and "Swinger." With the F-body dead, this car is greatest performance bargain in the world, bar none. I wouldn't trade my beloved Z28 for one, but I respect anyone who sees the value in 150mph for less than $20k.

 

Oh, this Neon has style and image, just not the style and image most of us are wanting. You bring up a good point, though. How much more seriously would people take this car if it were renamed back when it was restyled a few years ago?

There's no denying it is a good performance value (I'm sure I'll test drive one for S&Gs). But if a turbo or supercharged Cavalier came out doing low 14s for $20,000 would you buy one?? In a lot of our eyes, it'd still just be a Cavalier, as this is still just a Neon.

 

Does it come with a canopener to pry myself into that thing??!?!?

I just couldn't handle being in such a small car...